A slap landed on my face.
Qian Rushan covered his burning cheeks, immediately stopped crying, knelt on the ground with his head down, and dared not breathe.
The cell was quieter than ever before.
The jailer standing by, seeing this scene, couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, realizing he had almost neglected Qian Sijin.
He quickly ordered someone to bring a chair and said in a fawning tone, "Miss, please have a seat."
Qian Sijin was lecturing Qian Rushan when someone suddenly interrupted her, and she glared at him unhappily.
Yuqin stepped forward and said, "Alright, our young lady has something to say to the second young master. You unrelated people can leave now."
"Yes." The jailer trembled and fled the scene as if his life depended on it.
After the jailer left, Yuqin carried a chair forward. "Miss, you've been traveling for several days. Please sit down and talk to the second young master slowly."
Qian Sijin glanced at her, took off her black cloak and handed it to her, then slowly sat down. She looked up at the silent Qian Rushan, and after a long silence, her fierce gaze softened as she said:
"You little rascal, did I hurt you? Come here right now and let me see."
"Second Young Master, quickly call Miss to take a look." Yuqin quickly reached out to help him up, but Qian Rushan pushed her away and knelt down in front of Qian Sijin without saying a word. His eyes were full of tears, and he cried aggrievedly: "Sister, I knew you would never abandon me."
"Is that all the ambition you've got?" Qian Sijin scolded irritably, looking at his disheveled appearance. She brushed the messy hair aside, raised her chin, and examined his face with a hint of heartache: "You've gotten so thin after just a few months."
Qian Rushan pointed to the pile of straw where he slept, "Sister, look at this place! There's nothing here, no food, no drink, and cockroaches, rats, and insects crawling all over you every day. How can I live comfortably? This is simply not a place for a human to stay."
Qian Sijin pursed her lips, "I'm sorry to have made you suffer like this."
"Yes!" Qian Rushan knelt down in front of Qian Sijin, tightly grasping her hand, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Sister, please take me out of here. I really can't stand this godforsaken place anymore. If I stay here for another ten days or half a month, I'll go crazy. Who knows, I might just have a fit of madness in the middle of the night and kill myself by banging my head against the wall. That way, I can at least die a quick and painless death."
Take it out?
Qian Sijin leaned back in her chair and pinched her brow with two fingers.
Seeing this, Yuqin took out her handkerchief, hurriedly stepped forward, and wiped the area, saying:
"What are you saying, Second Young Master? You are in the prime of your youth, the most precious time of your life. How can you talk about death and suicide so easily?"
"Sister Yuqin, it's not that I want to die, it's just that this place is uninhabitable!"
Qian Rushan grabbed a handkerchief, wiped the water droplets from his face, crawled to Qian Sijin's feet, and his mind cleared a little:
"Sister, I understand. Why don't you just ask your brother-in-law to come and save me? He's very skilled; there aren't many people who can match him."
"Have your brother-in-law disguise himself as a masked black man, come in the dead of night to break me out of prison, kill everyone here, and then take me away without anyone noticing. That way, I can escape this hellhole!"
Kill them all?
Qian Sijin's eyes, hidden between her fingers, revealed a fierce look, but seeing that Qian Rushan was completely unaware, she ultimately held back.
She removed her hand. "Rushan, the entire court is watching this place. I can't take you away, and I certainly can't let Qi Shuo kill everyone here."
This won't work, that won't work.
Qian Rushan pursed his lips and hummed pitifully, "Sister, that county magistrate Zhao Ruoqian and Yang Xi teamed up to arrest me and lock me up here. They definitely want to kill me! Are you just going to watch your only precious little brother go to his death for nothing?"
Qian Sijin leaned back slightly, her expression unmoved. "What ability do a mere county magistrate and a constable have to dare kill the prefect's son?"
Qian Rushan opened his eyes wide with excitement, raised his head, and stared blankly at his older sister:
"Sister, what wouldn't they dare to do! In the past, would those county magistrates and constables have dared to arrest me? But Zhao Ruoqian and Yang Xi, these two dare to do it!"
"And I know they arrested me not just because of the murder case at my manor, but also because of Father! This time, they've targeted me. But what about later? They might turn on my sister!"
"Sister, if you don't get me out of here, they might dare to drag you into this hellhole too. I've already experienced the suffering of imprisonment for you, and it's unbearable. Sister, I don't want you to suffer like this."
"Suffering..." Qian Sijin chuckled coldly, leaned forward, and slapped Qian Rushan's face hard. "You brat, don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You're not thinking of me at all; you're clearly thinking of yourself."
Qian Rushan's face turned bright red. "Me!"
“You know it yourself. They arrested you this time not entirely because of the murder at the manor, but to extract more information about Father from you.” Qian Sijin slowly stood up, walked closer to him, her eyes unfathomable: “Tell your sister, what have you confessed?”
Qian Rushan shook his head violently, his body trembling slightly. "Sister, I didn't say anything! How could I have the guts to say such things?"
Qian Sijin withdrew her gaze with satisfaction. "If they didn't say anything, that's good."
"Sister, you see, although I've been a bit of a troublemaker, I haven't caused Dad any trouble. Please help me leave this place, considering how obedient and sensible I am!"
"Didn't I just say I can't save you? With over a dozen murders, who dares to let you go so easily?" Qian Sijin's eyes suddenly turned cold. Qian Rushan swallowed his pleas for mercy, and after a long while, he said with a look of despair:
"Are you really going to just stand by and watch me go to the execution ground? More than a dozen lives lost—this is a capital offense. I don't want to die..."
Hearing the crying, Qian Sijin felt a pang of guilt, even though she remained calm. She walked slowly to him and carefully smoothed his disheveled hair. "Father is the prefect, and you are his only son. Even if these people had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to do anything to you."
"Sister! Zhao Ruoqian and Yang Xi dare to do that! This time, they're here to kill me!" Qian Rushan exclaimed in terror.
Qian Sijin withdrew her hand and walked to the beam of light shining in through the skylight. "What are you afraid of? If that day really comes, even if you end up at the execution ground, I will still save you."
Even at the execution ground?
Qian Rushan stared blankly at his decisive sister, meeting her resolute gaze, and a sudden surge of hope rose within him. "Sister, with your words, I'll stay in this godforsaken place for now and suffer for our family."
for?
Qian Sijin rolled her eyes, then returned to his side, her eyes slightly closed. "Also, what's the deal with Jixianglou?"
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